Jubilife School of Pokémon and Trainers
by Yogurt-Time
Summary: Calem travels to the Sinnoh region to find out what happened to Emma, leading him to a prestigious school in Jubilife City. This is no ordinary school though... What kind of secrets will he uncover there?
1. Calem's Plans Get Ruined

**And here it is, my new story about Calem's adventure in Sinnoh. No, it's not a high school AU, I promise.**

**Since there are plenty of characters from that region, I recommend reading this fic if you're familiar with both Pokemon X/Y and Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum. I've also made Calem a little less shy than in previous fics... since he won't be around his Kalos friends as often.**

* * *

"What a great day to do… I'm not sure what, but I'll think of something."

It seemed like today was going to be just another typical day in Calem's life… Little did the boy from Vaniville Town know that the Holo Caster call he was about to receive would make this day anything but normal.

Hearing the device's signature ringtone, he promptly picked his Holo Caster up to play the message. The hologram displayed was the standard non-descript figure that indicated an audio-only call.

"Yo, little dude!" drawled a man's voice. "We got ourselves a situation, and we want you to get your skinny arse over to the Looker Bureau ASAP! Got it?" The hologram vanished when the message had finished, and Calem groaned; his plans for the day disrupted now. What did they need his "skinny **ass**" – the correct way to pronounce it, Calem firmly believed – for anyway?

If Calem had to name one person who could do anything better than he, one name came to mind faster than anything: Emma, the girl who had been living in Lumiose City as a homeless orphan for most of her life, given ad education and a place to live by that Looker detective. However, her true strength came from the Expansion Suit she owned, an invention of Dr. Xerosic of Team Flare (before the team's downfall) that increased its wearer's physical capabilities severalfold. If Calem had his own suit like that, there would be no question that he could keep up with that girl.

But of course, he didn't. The Expansion Suit was one of a kind after all, so he wondered, why in the world would the Looker Bureau gang ask him for his help when Emma could do the job with much less time and effort?

%%%

"Emma's gone, mate."

When Calem had made it to the Looker Bureau in Lumiose City, he saw the building inhabited only by the three punks who assisted Emma with the more mundane tasks of keeping the cities safe; there was no sign of the orphan girl or Mimi, her Espurr companion.

"Where'd she go?" Calem asked.

"Sinnoh region," replied one of the punk girls as she worked at her fingernails with an iron file; sitting at a desk facing the wall, she didn't even turn her head to face the boy as she spoke.

Calem hadn't expected an answer like that. "What was she doing there?" While he had certainly heard of Sinnoh before, beyond knowing about Mt. Coronet, the region's most notable geographic feature, his Sinnoh-based knowledge was vestigial at best.

"Check it." Calem yelped in surprise when an opened envelope was tossed his way, and he pulled out the letter folded inside, reading the neatly-written message.

"_Hello to my dear Emma,  
If I may take a moment of your time… I write to you from the Sinnoh region, where I am currently all done with my International Police work. For the first time in many weeks, I am very much relaxed and at ease!  
I have enclosed for you a ticket to travel there. Please visit with me, if only briefly, for it has been so very long since we have talked in person.  
I will be waiting to see you in Jubilife City. Have you heard about the new school that had opened there? Such a place had not existed when I had visited Sinnoh previously! As a detective, it piques my curiosity… I can only hope you will come to visit so that you may see it with me._

_-Looker"_

The writing seemed to be the only aspect of Looker's letter that attempted any form of professionalism; the rest of the paper was covered with little stickers of various Pokémon, and drawn below the message in colored pencils was a simplistic doodle of two figures that just might have intended to be Looker and Emma, wobbly lines for big smiles on both their faces.

Calem handed the letter back to the one man of the punk trio. "That doesn't sound so bad."

"You don't understand, mate," explained the punk man. "We got this letter two months ago… or was it three? But either way, Emma's been gone longer than we expected, that's for true. We even tried calling her, but she didn't pick up or nothin' every time!"

"Ohh… That's weird." That certainly put things in perspective; why would Emma be staying in Sinnoh for so long without at least notifying someone back in Kalos? What if something had happened to her? Surely Looker would not allow something terrible to befall the child he took into his care… right?

The punk man then handed Calem an empty suitcase. "And since you're Emma's best bud – besides her Pokémon, anyway – we want you to pop into Sinnoh for a bit to make sure she's sittin' pretty! Pretty clever plan, innit?"

A frown of skepticism found its way to Calem's face; being shipped off overseas seemed like the least efficient solution to their dilemma… but the boy still couldn't help but worry for Emma's safety; Expansion Suit or no, she was his friend – and she made for a worthy rival in the ways of Pokémon training and battling.

Other than that, there lingered a small part of him that wanted to see this Sinnoh region for himself.

"So when are we leaving then?" the boy asked.

The punk snorted, like Calem had just told the funniest joke he had ever heard.

"We? **We** ain't goin' nowheres. But** you're** gettin' on that plane tomorrow."

The punk girl at the desk explained their decision. "Hey, some dude's gotta keep an eye on this place. Then someone's gotta keep an eye on that dude."

Calem pouted. "But that's only two people…"

The punk guy added. "Third dude gets the snacks! Speaking of, spare some dough, guv? I'm gettin' us some chips and soda."

%%%

That night, Calem and his friends met at the café in Aquacorde Town, where he decided to tell them about what was happening the next day.

"Wow, the Sinnoh region!" Shauna squealed. "I wonder what kind of Pokémon they have there. Can I come, Cal? Can I, can I, pretty pleeeease with sprinkles and whipped cream on top?"

"Sure," Calem answered. "If you can fit in my suitcase."

For the sake of getting what she wanted, the brown-haired girl accepted the rhetorical challenge, opening Calem's suitcase and trying in vain to sit inside it while folding the open suitcase shut.

"Darn it, I can't fit… maybe if I dumped some of these old clothes out…" Shauna mumbled to herself as she continued in her futile endeavor.

"I read in my encyclopedia that the Sinnoh region was where the first Global Trade Station was constructed," Trevor told the group. "Now that trading Pokémon with people across the world has become a significantly more widespread and convenient process, I am curious to know what has become of the building."

Tierno had been poking at his ear with his finger while the orange-haired boy had been speaking, and interjected after he noticed nobody else was talking. "Sinnoh?! Oh man, do they really have dancing contests there? Also, one time my uncle went there and he brought me back an Old Gateau! It smelled kinda funky, but tasted pretty awesome! So bring me back some if you see any, okay?"

Calem was starting to find all this attention a little overwhelming, on top of worrying about the actual trip.

"Uh… Oh, is that the time? Sorry, guys… I'll miss you. Bye!" He swiped his suitcase from under Shauna's body, and ran home as fast as he could.

"Gee, Cal sure seems excited about leaving tomorrow," remarked Shauna as he stood to her feet, brushing the dust off of her shorts.

Tierno nodded. "Someone should tell Serena about this when she comes back… Not it!"

"Not it!" Shauna echoed the statement not more than a second later; Trevor on the other hand was not quite as punctual.

"Not i- ohh, man…" he whined, "I'm never fast enough…"

%%%

Despite having received a good night's rest, Calem was barely awake the next day, and being escorted to the airport and pushed through all the preparations for his flight, with his luggage in tow, felt like some hazy dream; if not for the assistance from the Looker Bureau punks, he would have most certainly missed his plane by at least an hour.

He was considerably better rested by the time the inter-regional flight had come to a stop, the plane landing in the unfamiliar territory of the Sinnoh region. With a quiet yawn, Calem stepped off the plane, finding himself in the tranquil but developed Jubilife City, a city that reminded the Kalos boy of his region's own Lumiose City, is somewhat on a smaller and less culture-influenced scale. Now that he had arrived to the last known whereabouts of Emma before she had seemingly disappeared, Calem looked around, searching for any possible leads.

He noticed that a fair percentage of his fellow tourists from the plane ride were filing in a line towards the center of the city, which appeared to be the site of an impossibly huge school grounds. Were Calem to guess, he would probably say that this was the building that Looker was referring to in his letter to Emma… but why was everyone gawking at what lay beyond the closed gates, like some wonderful tourist attraction was harbored away there?

"Well shucks, boy, ain't this what you came here for in the first place?" a rather dandy-looking man in a suit answered the question Calem had asked. "Today's the day that this school is holding their semester-ly entrance exams!"

"Entrance exams?!" Calem gasped; he had been drawn to this site entirely by accident, and for a moment he figured that he had no time to waste on enrolling in this school, until he considered the possibility that Emma herself had taken an interest in the facility after coming to the region, and she was currently studying there right now. If that was the case, why didn't Emma tell anyone about her decision? Did something happen to her? The boy had no time to ponder as the gates screeched, parting to let in the sea of newcomers, from both within the region and overseas.

"Welcome, trainers of Pokémon, to Jubilife School of Pokémon and Trainers!" proclaimed a voice, its speaker obscured to Calem from behind a wall of people. "By appearing before myself and these premises, you have expressed your desire to learn of the secrets of this school. If you are unprepared to commit yourself to the ways of the academy, you are to leave immediately!"

Surprisingly, only one person out of the several took that offer; an old lady slowly walked away, wooden cane in hand. Despite his doubts, Calem remained in place – this place was as good a starting point to search for Emma as any, and he had nothing to lose from enrolling.

"So you remaining truly wish to become superior Pokémon trainers," continued the unseen speaker. "**However! **Desire and commitment alone do not a truly strong trainer make. If you wish to draw from the strength that this institute's teachings bestow, you must first prove the strength you already possess!"

Calem then heard something happening, and by standing on his tiptoes to peer above the shortest of the crowd, he saw that several many traffic cones had emerged from the grounds leading to the skyscraper at the far end of the campus; they formed a winding, racetrack-like path to the skyscraper's entrance.

"It's a race!" Calem spoke out loud, and he felt some relief. A contest of speed would be one where he had a slight advantage, using his secret weapon – the roller skates he always brought with him. Furtively, the boy crouched down and strapped them to his boots.

On his tiptoes, Calem could see who had been speaking; it was a tan-skinned boy who looked to be almost his age, with silver hair tied in a small braid so as not to get in the way of his smugly smirking face, and he was wearing a charcoal-black version of the archetypical school uniform Calem had seen in his favorite cartoons and comics.

The silver-haired boy gestured to the track before them. "To prove you are fit to wear the school's uniform, you will race to the finish, and aim to finish within the top 30 places."

"What if we tie?" asked a little girl from someplace in the crowd.

"There are no ties! We measure each finishing time very carefully!" answered the schoolboy. "All participants failing to make the quota will not be permitted to enter the premises, until the next entrance exam… unless of course, this marks your third failed attempt, in which case you will be permanently banned from all future entrance exams!"

A few heads away, Calem saw a blond boy in a striped shirt, wiping the sweat of his brow with the scarf he wore. "Oh geez… this is my last chance! I gotta get in this time, or that's it!" he muttered to himself, shuffling nervously on his feet.

"Now, trainers, to the starting line!" shouted the silver-haired schoolboy, and at his words, the throng of prospective school entrants lined up at the racetrack.

"On your marks… get set…"

Calem crouched down, holding his breath.

"**Go!"**

Calem reacted just promptly enough to get a tiny head-start from launching forward with his roller skates, before the other stampeding entrants quickly caught up. For the first two minutes, the Kalos boy maintained his pace by skating, managing to keep up with even the more physically fit entrants; it all seemed pretty straightforward… perhaps too straightforward.

These suspicions were undeniably confirmed when Calem saw a crafty one of the bunch attempt to cheat by jumping over the traffic cones to take a major shortcut. In mid-jump, the cones beneath him fired bolts of electricity from their tips, making the cheater fall down as he was blasted with the shocking attack, stunned and quickly left in the dust by the other racers. Before long, some of the weaker entrants were slowing down, starved of air and coated in their sweat; Calem didn't have time to worry about his competition though, and just focused on keeping the rhythm of kicking his legs to maintain momentum on his wheels.

Suddenly, a Pokémon dropped from out of nowhere; it was none other than Abomasnow, a burly white Ice and Grass-type Pokémon that began to exhale a stream of icy breath upon the ground around it, coating the nearby track in a layer of slippery ice that spelled trouble for the racers as their feet failed to properly grip the frictionless surface; even Calem on his skates was slowed considerably by the sudden hazard, and was beginning to be overtaken by more and more racers.

"Out of the way, Slowpoke!"

**Thud!**

Something at high speed collided with Calem from behind – or rather, someone, making the Kalos boy fall over.

He turned around to see who the culprit was… it was that twitchy blond boy in the green scarf!

Without wasting any more time, Calem rose to his feet and prepared to dash back into the fray.

"Wait! I need some help, Slowpoke!" the blond boy called out, gripping his ankle with both hands as he writhed in pain on the icy ground.

For a second, Calem felt like ignoring the injured stranger; that boy had greatly slowed him down due to his cluminess, but Calem remembered that this was his third and final try to enter the school, and couldn't handle the guilt of leaving the boy to fail.

Besides, there was still a chance to make it.

"Okay, get on my back," Calem said, helping the stranger up to carry him piggyback-style before they took off again.

Calem panted a bit as he managed to gain on the faster racers; skating was considerably more strenuous when carrying the weight of two.

"Now I know how Tierno's skates feel," he thought to himself.

It looked like Abomasnow was gone by the time Calem had made it to the final stretch of the race, and using what strength he had, he pushed on, carrying the blond boy with him.

"Dude, I think we're gonna make it!" he said. "I owe ya big time, don't I, Slowpoke?"

Breathing deeply and shaking the beads of sweat away from his face, the brown haired boy replied quickly, "The name's Calem- I mean Cal! Cal."

"I'm Barry," the boy in the scarf responded in kind. "I'm from Twinleaf Town! I wanted to come to this school so I could-"

Barry was interrupted by a crashing tremor that almost knocked Calem off of his feet; Abomasnow had dropped down from above again, standing between them and the finish line. The icy Pokémon began to form big snowballs in its pointy-clawed hands, tossing them at the two boys. Though it didn't throw far enough, the clumps of snow crumbled as they hit the ground, leaving a carpet of thick powdery snow that Calem couldn't skate over; the wheels of his roller skates could not at all negotiate the yielding terrain.

With no other choice, he trudged along the snowy track with broad strides, still straining from Barry's added weight. Racers were passing by them now, unfazed by Abomasnow's assault and passing the finish line. The odds were narrowing, but Calem couldn't give up… not when Emma was still missing.

With one final effort, Calem flopped over as he managed to reach the finish line, landing on his belly while Barry rolled off of him. Gasping for breath, they sat back up as a man wearing a hard hat and glasses walked up to them. Like the silver-haired boy, he too was wearing a school uniform.

"I'm sorry, boys," he said while adjusting his glasses, "but I'm afraid you were unlucky enough to place 31st and 32nd. Therefore, you have failed the entrance exam. Better luck next time…" He then took notice of Barry, having recognized him from the previous exams. "As for you, Barry, I believe this was your third attempt at the exam? That is very unfortunate indeed…"

"You gotta be kidding me!" Barry snapped back, jumping to his feet. "Well, I'm not going anywhere until you gimme one of those uniforms! I'll fine you if I have to! Come at me!"

Meanwhile, Calem was glaring at Barry with an unbelievable amount of resentment; the boy from Twinleaf Town had been faking his injury all along, and had just cost him a place in the school.


	2. Calem's Not As Strong As He Thought

**Whew, here's chapter 2.**

**The chapters this time are a bit longer than normal, as I have a bit more to cover in this story.**

* * *

Calem couldn't believe he had just barely fell short of the entrance exam's threshold – that scamp Barry was to blame after all; if Calem had only focused on his own efforts, he strongly believed he would have had a better chance at placing in the top 30.

But the Kalos boy tried to look on the bright side: all he needed to do was to wait until the next semester to start and take the exam again, since this was only his first failed attempt. Some people however were not so lucky…

For the next quarter-hour, Calem sat by the finish line, watching as the remaining racers completed the race just as he did, only to hear the disappointing results – they too were destined to wait until next time.

The electric traffic cones all began to recede into the ground once there remained no active participants on the race track; the racers who had collapsed from exhaustion took no heed and remained in their slumped over positions, completely defeated by the challenge they could not overcome.

With a sigh of exasperation, Calem stood up, and began to walk towards the school gates, his mood soured as he heard the raucous cheers of those fortunate enough to pass the exam.

"Yeah, who needs them?" Barry suddenly appeared from behind Calem, slapping his hand upon the Kalos boy's shoulder. "Let's start our own school, with… with roller coasters, and a salad bar!"

Without any hesitation, Calem pulled Barry's hand away. "Leave me alone," he grumbled.

"Dude, what's your problem? I thought we were friends!" Barry spoke in a defensive tone, as though he were the one wronged in the situation.

Calem turned to face the blond boy, teeth clenched behind his closed mouth.

"Friends?" His words came out blunt and unmistakably seething. "I don't even know who you are. All I know is that thanks to you, I failed that stupid exam!"

Barry's response was less than sympathetic.

"Yeah, big whoop. At least **you **get another chance! And it's not my fault my foot went and fell asleep just when you bumped into me."

"Fell asleep? Are you serious?!" Calem's voice was climbing in volume now as he stared the other boy down.

"Oh, I'm serious, all right!" Barry responded, matching Calem's intensity. "I'll show you how serious I am!"

Before Calem knew it, Barry began to charge towards him in a rage, the blond boy's arms spinning around, intending to club at anything that got in their way.

"Ah, he's fast!" Calem exclaimed to himself while jumping out of the way. To his mild surprise, Barry didn't change his path, and kept flailing wildly. "…but he's not very sharp. No wonder he crashed into me in the race."

Barry finally turned around after realizing he had been punching nothing but air for at least seven seconds, and with a war-cry that was much too half-hearted to be threatening, he ran towards Calem once more, swinging his fists about.

He was then stopped by that man in the hard hat and glasses, who was holding Barry's head at arm length while he continued to attack.

"I hate to interrupt," said the man in the uniform, "but it's a good thing you stuck around! You see, we actually had to disqualify two of the entrants who passed the exam by cheating." He directed the attention of the boys to a pair of people who seemed to be wearing black body-suits that covered them completely, sans the face. These two hung their heads in shame as they were escorted out of the school grounds as the onlookers jeered and pelted them with garbage.

The helmet-clad man shook his head with a sigh. "Tsk , tsk, shock-proof rubber suits. It's like they knew about the electric cones ahead of time… or maybe they always wear them. Either way, they used those suits to cheat and jump over the cones, and as we all know, cheaters never prosper. Do you boys know what that means?"

"It means that prospers never cheat!" Barry guessed, as he finally stopped flailing his arms.

"It means that everyone after them gets moved up two places!" corrected the man. "And since you two were placed 31st and 32nd, that means you'll be moved up to 29th and 30th… but I'm sure you knew that, right?"

When Calem heard those amended results, he looked with a face of surprise to Barry, who reciprocated the reaction.

"**Awwww yesss, we made it, yeah!"**

Calem and Barry celebrated by dancing around, jumping in a very hyperactive manner; it was hardly possible to believe they had been fighting bitterly not a minute before.

%%%

Eventually, the other failed participants of the exam had all left, some in tears, some determined to pass the next time around, and others still spouting off all manner of profanities directed towards the school and its patrons.

Now that Calem was no longer part of that unlucky crowd, he made his way to where the other passing students had gathered, lined up in order of their finishing time – that put Calem at the very end of the row. The silver-haired boy then appeared before the new students; standing behind him were the man in the hard hat, and three other faces that were unfamiliar to the Kalos boy.

"Pending students of Jubilife School, I congratulate you on passing the entrance exam!" The silver-haired boy's resounding voice and the gaze of his icy-blue eyes commanded the attention of everyone present. "I, Amadeus, am the Student Body President of this school, and these are my Vice Presidents!" Amadeus stepped back to allow the school's vice presidents some space to share a few words of their own.

The man in the hard hat spoke first, adjusting his thin-rimmed glasses. "I'm Roark. I aim to show trainers the hardened power of the Rock type." He bowed, and received light applause from the crowd of thirty.

Next to speak was a girl with black hair, tied into twin braids. Like her fellow vice presidents, she too wore the black school uniform, but for some reason she had a blue sweater tied over the outfit at her waist.

"Candice will make her opponents feel the chill of Ice Pokémon!" she announced in a chirpy, enthusiastic tone.

Her short speech was met with confused murmurs and puzzled expressions.

"…I'm Candice," she clarified, and only then did the audience cease to be confused by her words, as they applauded.

The third vice president to speak was a man with blond hair, but his was spikier and less disheveled than Barry's. Unlike the contented Roark and the cheerful Candice, he seemed rather aloof, almost disinterested in the situation.

"I'm Volkner," he said with a brief wave before he turned his back to the new students. All the same, they cheered for the vice president even as he had not mentioned his favored type at all.

The last of the four vice presidents gently pushed his peers out of the way, revealing that he was fairly larger than they, and wearing a wrestler's mask in addition to his uniform. He cleared his throat and took in a deep breath of air before bellowing out his introductory song.

"_Crash! Crash! Crasher Wake!  
Crash! Crash! Crasher Wake!  
I'm the tidal wave of power to wash you away!  
Put out the fire, Crasher Wake!  
Run from electricity, Crasher Wake!  
Ah, ah, aaaah!  
The ring is my sea~"_

Unfortunately, his singing was not as melodious as he liked to believe, and everyone that heard the sour-noted song was wincing from having been subjected to it – or rather, everyone but Barry. The boy in the green scarf cheered and whistled in response to the performance, demanding an encore.

"Hey, come on!" Barry leaned over to Calem standing next to him. "Show some respect to Crasher Wake! He's my mentor and idol! One time, I asked him to wrestle with me, and he- ah! He's looking at me!" Barry waved his arms to attract the man's attention. "Hey, Crasher Wake! Notice me! Notice meeee!"

But Wake simply moved back, standing behind Amadeus along with the other vice presidents.

"He totally noticed me," Barry remarked to Calem.

Amadeus began to speak once more, easily quieting Barry and the others. "Before I can accept you as students of this school, you trainers must pledge your loyalty to me, the Student Body President, and in return, I will guide you toward the path of greatness! Do you accept these terms?"

A unanimous cheer from the crowd showed that they were all in agreement, and a small but certain smile made its way to Amadeus's lips.

"Vice Presidents!" shouted the silver-haired boy. "Provide our new students with their new uniforms!"

Roark, Candice, Volkner and Crasher Wake then moved towards the entrance of the school grounds tower, and the students all followed, making their way inside of the large building.

%%%

"Do I have to get changed in front of everyone?" Calem asked, eyeing the floor bashfully.

"Why not?" Roark answered, handing him a black school uniform in his size. "If everyone is doing the same, I see no reason to be embarrassed. Besides, your friend doesn't seem to mind it one bit."

The hard hat-wearing man pointed to Barry, who had cast off his regular outfit and was now standing in front of his idol, Crasher Wake, clad in only his shoes, scarf, and plain white briefs.

"He's not my friend…" Calem remarked, but Roark didn't notice, silently bemused by Barry's behavior.

"Crasher Wake! Please autograph my uniform!" The blond boy's eyes were all but glimmering in admiration as he stood in close to the masked man.

"Wait until I give you your uniform!" he replied. "Also, no autographs!"

Barry pouted and yet continued to vie for his idol's attention, and Calem took the opportunity to change into his uniform while everyone was distracted with the spectacle. Fortunately, it seemed to fit him rather well, and while admiring his appearance in his new clothing, he noticed that the uniform was outfitted with some features not commonly seen on those types of apparel.

"What's this on my wrist?" he asked, pressing a button on the long sleeve of the jacket. Suddenly, his right sleeve began to display a meter bar, and the message "Lv. 1."

Roark turned his gaze to see Calem fiddling around with his uniform. "What's that, you ask? You will see in due time, after everyone else has changed into their uniforms."

Such an endeavor took at least half an hour – Barry's persistent pestering of Crasher Wake served to consume a majority of the time that could have been better spent handing out the uniforms. Nonetheless, when everyone was changed, their other outfits were all stored away for safekeeping, and the students were all led outside again, where Amadeus was standing alongside an older man in a white lab coat, and a fierce, blue-skinned Dragon-type Pokémon with sharp claw-tipped arms.

"Welcome, new students," the old man greeted. "I am Professor Rowan. Normally, you can find me at my laboratory in Sandgem Town, but I have come here today to explain the function of the uniforms you have been given, otherwise known as Trainer Uniforms… an appropriate name, if somewhat uninspired. As I do so, Amadeus here will provide a visual demonstration, with the help of his Garchomp."

"Thank you, Professor." Amadeus bowed to the man before pressing the button on his uniform's wrist, revealing the same green meter as the one Calem saw on his own, before he and Garchomp gave themselves a wide berth from the students, the trainer and the Pokémon now intensely focused on one another.

Professor Rowan cleared his throat shortly before explaining. "The Trainer Uniform protects trainers from Pokémon attacks that would otherwise be dangerous or even fatal."

As he said this, Amadeus's Garchomp unleashed its Fire Blast attack, scorching its trainer in a fiery stream that formed a five-pointed shape. However, when the flames cleared, the students saw that Amadeus had not been hurt at all by the attack; he was just standing there like nothing had happened, eliciting gasps of surprise and amazement from the students.

"In addition to that," Rowan continued, "The uniform also augments the strength of its wearer, allowing them to fight against opposing Pokémon."

Amadeus then charged towards his Garchomp, crashing into the dragon Pokémon with a tackle. Even as his Pokémon had braced against the attack, the force of the blow was still enough to push it back a fair distance.

"Each of your uniforms has its own level to indicate the amount of strength and defense it provides." As the professor was informing the students of this, Amadeus had returned from the battle demonstration, displaying his wrist to let them observe his Trainer Uniform level, the symbols "Lv. 50" emblazoned upon the fabric in glowing lines.

After observing the level of the president, the various students examined the sleeves of their uniforms, pressing the buttons to reveal their own levels while comparing with their peers. Calem was no different, but after looking over many other classmates, it began to occur to him that being at Level 1 was not as common as he had thought; in fact, he was the only student to have the lowest possible level of Trainer Uniforms.

"Holy schnitzel, I'm Level 2! How cool is that?" Unsurprisingly, Barry's exclamation did little to assuage Calem's disappointment.

Amadeus and Rowan looked over the students as they clamored. "The initial level of your uniforms was decided by your performance in the entrance exams," said the professor.

"But if your level is low, you need not fear!" Amadeus added. "By battling trainers with their Pokémon, you will have the opportunity to increase your level by defeating your opponents!"

Calem raised his hand to ask, "But how can you defeat anyone if they're all a higher level than you?"

But Amadeus dismissively turned his silver-haired head to the side, and he and the professor remained silent.

Unfortunately for the Kalos boy, his question had roused attention of the wrong kind, as the other twenty-nine students looked towards him as he had effectively outed himself as the weakest in the group.

"Hey, this kid's only Level 1!"

"Ha ha, loser!"

"Who puts sunglasses on their hat like that?"

It was quite the task for Calem to prevent their taunts from getting to him, but he had to be strong. He realized now that his low level made him the underdog of the students, and that increased the incentive to prove himself as a worthy trainer… the kind who could keep up with Emma.

"Outta the way! Let me see the weak link!"

Sifting through the herd of students was a young boy wearing a cap turned backwards and a snide, ear-to-ear grin. Though his uniform was a size or two too large for him, he did not seem to mind; he valued his new Level 20 uniform for its ability over the way it fit.

"Oh wow," said the kid as he looked condescendingly at Calem in spite of his short stature. "You look like even more of a dork up close. I can't believe you even passed the entrance exam!"

Calem retorted, "Well, you've got a big mouth for a small fry!"

The young boy was unfazed. "Whatever, I can talk as big as I want. Who got first place in the exam?"

"Was it her?" Barry asked, pointing to a girl in the crowd of students.

"This guy, that's who!" boasted the boy, pointing to his face. "The name's Ross. It rhymes with 'boss!'" His bravado was such that it even made a few students swoon and sigh.

In spite of Ross's confident front, Calem refused to be intimidated. There was only a 19-level difference between them after all, surely that was nothing to be scared of?

"Infernape, get 'em!"

Before the Kalos boy could register what Ross had just said, he was smacked from behind, making him fall forward. His face was inches from hitting the ground when Ross threw a punch straight at Calem's face, pushing him back upright, in the direction of Ross's Pokémon, a simian Fire and Fighting-type that attacked swiftly and efficiently. The Trainer Uniform ensured that he felt minimal pain from the attacks, but Calem was simply overwhelmed by the sheer strength of Ross and his Pokémon as they smacked him back and forth.

"Amadeus!" Professor Rowan exclaimed as the students gave the battling trainers some space. "Are you going to allow this?"

The silver-haired boy nodded. "This is the best way for the new students to learn. Besides, it's the most exciting thing to happen all week."

Rowan contemplated. "W-well… Students, do you see what is happening to the trainer as they are being attacked? The meter on their sleeve is decreasing!"

Just as the professor had said, the green meter on Calem's uniform was now colored yellow, and had been reduced to half of its original length, and continued to decrease as he was being beaten down.

"That meter represents the amount of damage the uniform can endure," the professor continued to provide exposition, despite very few students actually paying heed. "When the damage reaches the critical level, it is considered a victory for the winner."

It wasn't long before Calem's uniform displayed the signs of a critically-damaged uniform, courtesy of Ross and his Infernape. The damage meter was red now, and barely more than a sliver in size. The black fabric of the uniform itself began to blink with red too, and only then did Ross stop attacking.

"Well?" he sneered. "You gonna take that uniform off and get lost now?"

Calem's breath was staggered from being tossed around, and he could barely stand, but the word he uttered showed his determination.

"…No!"

"Please, I strongly suggest you surrender!" Professor Rowan called out to Calem. "Your uniform cannot take much more damage!"

Ross laughed madly. "Fat chance! Infernape, Fire Punch!" His Infernape let out an energetic screech as its clenched fist combusted, cloaking it in flames while it flew towards Calem's chest.

Not only did that attack deplete the last of his uniform's meter, but it set the very fabric alight, making the Kalos boy panic as he scrambled about in search of a way to extinguish the fire. The other students were unsympathetic, laughing at Calem's misfortune until he ran inside the tower.

"Where's the bathroom? They gotta have water in there!"

He immediately ran to the first door he could find in the lobby, and opened it… only to find it was not the bathroom at all, but rather the supply closet; by then, it was too late, as the uniform had now been burnt to a crisp, leaving Calem wearing nothing but ashes that crumbled off of his bare skin.

"I was in over my head all this time," he moped, trying not to cry, "but I thought for sure that Emma would be here… I guess I was wrong."

Curled up and sitting upon the closet floor, Calem leaned back, accidentally toppling over a few mops and brooms – and revealing something hidden behind them.

Not only did it answer a few questions he had about the school, but it was also a rather convenient solution to the dilemma at hand.


	3. Calem Meets An Old Adversary

**Whew, sorry for the delays. This is another battle scene chapter... those give me some trouble.**

* * *

In the confines of the supply closet, Calem laid eyes upon the forgotten object stashed away, hidden behind the broomsticks he had just toppled over.

"What the heck is this doing in here?" he whispered to himself. It was indeed very odd that he should find what he saw in, of all places, a supply closet in the school, but he had no reason to complain, considering that he had been so humiliatingly upstaged by that boy and his Infernape, leaving him in this musty space with nothing but a Level 1 Trainer Uniform that had just been burnt to a crisp.

With no other options to take, Calem removed the charred remains of his old uniform, and put on the clothing he had just found.

Just as he had finished donning the newly-discovered garb, he felt that something was amiss; the new outfit did not fit as well as he had hoped… but as he knew, beggars could not be choosers. Now that he was dressed – to use the term a little loosely – Calem took this moment to decide his next course of action. Ross and his Pokémon were still out there, and most likely still able and eager to serve another crushing defeat to the weaker boy.

It then occurred to Calem that he had been ambushed two-to-one then, and he didn't get so much as a second to summon his own Pokémon to even the odds. Surely if he brought his Pokémon out now he would stand at least half a chance, he reasoned… only to find that his suitcase that contained his Poké Balls was nowhere to be found in the closet.

"Damn, damn, damn!" Calem cursed his ever-increasing misfortune; he couldn't even remember at what point he had left the bag behind, though he could clearly remember carrying it during the entrance exam race, and while changing into his uniform. In his mind, he repeatedly traced his steps over and over, trying to remember when-

"Pardon me, but vhat are you doing vearing zis suit?" A voice had suddenly called, with no speaker to be seen.

"Uwah!" Calem jumped back in surprise. Where the heck did that voice come from, he wondered?

"Hmm? Zat scream! It couldn't be… You must be zat little brat! Calvin, vas it?"

Given a moment to calm down, Calem recognized that distinct, unmistakable accent. Somehow, it made sense in an odd kind of way, but it was still a less-than-pleasant surprise.

"That's not my name," he replied. "And how are you talking to me?"

"I asked you first, _dummkopf. _Vhy don't you answer me before I answer you?"

Calem sighed, before he recounted to the disembodied voice the tale of how he had gotten into such a messy situation, explaining as clearly as possible for the benefit of the one on the other side.

%%%

Professor Rowan, Amadeus, and the other students were all waiting outside to see how long it would take Calem to return to face Ross once more, though that was assuming he would come back at all and not just quietly slink away, never to be heard from again.

"So that is the strength of a Level 1 uniform," Roark mused. "Or a lack thereof, in this case." The other vice presidents briefly snickered in response to his dry humor.

The more serious Volkner didn't partake in the laughter. "Eh, when are we gonna see some real action?" he asked.

Meanwhile, the young boy Ross and his Infernape were still standing around by the entrance of the tower; the trainer was impatiently tapping his feet upon the ground while his Pokémon stood by.

"Looking for someone?"

Ross turned around, hearing the voice of the trainer he had defeated so easily, and as soon as he looked upon his opponent, his immediate response was to burst into a fit of uproarious laughter.

He was not alone though; his Infernape laughed, as did most of the students there as they witnessed Calem's return. Those who did not find the situation incredibly funny simply stared wide-eyed in sheer bemusement.

"Hey, nice uniform, dork!" Ross sneered. "Did your **boyfriend** pick it out for you?"

Calem was blushing furiously, but the embarrassment was but a small price to pay; wearing a girls' version of the school's Trainer Uniform – complete with over-knee skirt and white stockings – was certainly not the most ideal outcome, but it still ranked well above not having anything to wear at all.

Besides, a new uniform was just what he needed to stand a chance against the young bully.

Ross didn't bother to wait for Calem to answer. "Heh, whatever. I'm still gonna wipe the floor with you." With a snap of his fingers, Ross's Infernape sprung into action.

"Infernape, use Close Combat!"

"_Eeek eeeek!"_ The Fire and Fighting-type screeched, beating its chest with its fists.

With remarkable agility, Ross's Pokémon dashed quickly to stand mere inches from Calem, rearing its fist back before unleashing a rapid flurry of hard punches directly upon the boy, producing an audible whip-like crack with each hit that it landed.

Once the Pokémon had ceased its assault, the crowd gave a collective gasp… but not because of Infernape's attack.

As it turned out, Calem had raised his arms, blocking his body from Infernape's Close Combat, leaving him relatively unharmed due to the defensive prowess of his new uniform.

"Awesome…" Even as he was blushing from embarrassment, Calem smiled. There was something to him that was just unexplainably amazing about withstanding the full brunt of a Pokémon attack.

"**Heeeey, Cal! Heads up!"**

A voice came out from the back of the pool of spectators, followed by a familiar face pushing through them to make it to the front; it was Barry, who had found Calem's suitcase of supplies and Poké Balls after he had dropped them in a Fire Punch-induced panic. With a great swing of his arm, the blond boy hurled the bag towards Calem, which he caught with ease.

"It's time we fought this thing two-on-two!" said the Kalos boy as he reached inside, searching for the Pokémon he wanted to use.

"You mean _drei-un-zwei!_" piped up the familiar, disembodied voice. Calem responded by quickly hushing the voice; nobody was supposed to know about that. Once he had located the ball of his Pokémon of choice, Calem threw it into the fray, and the Poké Ball burst open to reveal a blue, long-tongued Water-type Pokémon.

"Geeeerah-gerah!" Calem's Greninja, the first Pokémon he had ever received, stood before Ross and his Infernape, assuming its signature crouched position.

The sight of Calem's Kalos-native Pokémon proved rather unusual to the Sinnoh people indeed. "What the heck is that thing?" asked Candice, pointing to the frog Pokémon.

Roark adjusted his glasses before providing the answer. "That would be Greninja, a Water and Dark type Pokémon, and the fully-evolved form of Froakie, one of the Pokémon given to beginner trainers in the Kalos region."

Volkner found his peer's knowledge of foreign Pokémon unusual. "Where'd you find that out?"

"Encyclopokédia, of course," Roark retorted condescendingly. "I'll send you the link sometime so you can get caught up."

Meanwhile, Ross and Infernape were not nearly as impressed with Calem's Pokémon – or perhaps they were, but chose not to show it.

"Ooh, real scary, a Toxicroak with a pink scarf!" the boy scoffed in a mocking voice. "Infernape, use Close Combat again!"

"Greninja, Water Shuriken!" Calem gave his command, and before Infernape could close in to strike, Greninja jumped back, and formed a big ball of water in its open palm, which quickly flattened into the shape of a pointed star that was the size of Calem's head. Greninja then threw the shuriken forward, making it spin through the air before it crashed into Infernape, creating a bubbly explosion on impact.

Infernape roared at getting hit with the swift Water-type attack; it had little time to retaliate as Greninja continued creating and launching more throwing stars made of water, hitting its opponent without fail. Ross looked on in disbelief as he saw his Pokémon collapse soon after the attack had finished, his Infernape completely overwhelmed by the super-effective Water Shurikens, and unable to fight.

The crowd clamored noisily, greatly intrigued by the strength of Calem's Pokémon.

"You cheated!" Ross snapped. "Stop hiding behind your Pokémon, you skirt-wearing sissy!"

"…Fine." Calem recalled Greninja into its Poké Ball, before raising his fists in an attempt to make a fighting stance. "Let's go-"

Without warning, Ross suddenly dived in to throw an uppercut punch, hitting Calem and sending him flying straight up into the air.

"**Uwooooahhh!"** Calem yelled as he flailed his limbs about, disoriented from tumbling around in mid-air. A hard crash-landing on his back was all that was needed to regain his bearings – but absorbing the damage from the fall and the initial attack was talking its toll on Calem's uniform; the endurance meter was reduced by a small chunk.

Calem tried to get back up, but he was quickly stopped by a kick to his side; Ross was almost howling with laughter as he punted the Kalos boy around like a football.

"Had enough yet?" Ross taunted, after his laughter had died down. "I almost feel bad stomping you flat so easily… no, wait, I don't feel bad at all! Ha ha hah!"

Calem refused to surrender, but he chose not to give his opponent the satisfaction of a response.

"Mein goodness, such _schadenfreude_…"Nobody seemed to pay heed to the unfamiliar voice making that remark.

Still slumped on the ground, Calem watched as Ross lifted his leg back, readying a huge, swinging kick. Such an attack would be too much for Calem to take… but the Kalos boy quickly came up with an idea that was sure to turn the tables.

"Not so fast!"

Calem delivered a single punch to Ross's other leg, the one he was using to stand. While not an especially powerful hit, it was enough to trip the younger boy up, making him fall flat on his face. Now that he had handily created an opening, Calem then seized the opportunity to get up and deliver his own kick to Ross, just as Ross had done to him.

The crowd gasped as Calem demonstrated a significant amount of speed and strength, attacking Ross with a series of continuous punches and kicks. In a matter of seconds, Ross's Level 20 uniform was nearing its critical state, beginning to blink red.

Even after being humbled outright, and just about expended of strength, the boy's cocky attitude did not cease in the least as Calem approached for the final blow.

"You… you call yourself a trainer?" Ross panted. "I'm just getting warmed up… You'll be sorry you messed with me!"

Calem looked down upon Ross, who was standing on one knee and gritting his teeth.

"Hey, you know what else rhymes with 'Ross'?" Calem asked.

He didn't give his opponent a chance to answer before he gave Ross a light shove, making him flop onto his back with a muffled thump, seemingly unable to get up.

"Loss."

"Hahahaha, oh wow, you're killing me out here!" Out of the entire audience of students, only Barry found Calem's answer funny enough to warrant a knee-slap and laugh.

Ten seconds passed, and Ross was still lying upon the ground, unmoving. After calming down from the frenzy of battle, Calem had become quite worried that he had severely injured the younger boy, while Professor Rowan emerged from the crowd to inspect Ross's condition.

"Don't worry, this boy is tired out, but otherwise unharmed, thanks to the Trainer Uniform!" reassured the professor. He pointed to Ross's uniform, which was blinking red. "Unfortunately, he will have to rest himself and his uniform for two full hours before he can fight again."

But it looked like once again, nobody was listening to Professor Rowan – now that the battle had finished, the students had drawn their attention to Amadeus, who was now walking towards Calem; any student that dared to get in between the two of them quickly retreated before the student president could get close.

"You," said the silver-haired boy. "What is your name?"

"C-Calem… I mean Cal, just Calem! Calem!" Intimidated by the sheer prestige and steely demeanor of the president, the Kalos boy had accidentally spoken his full name for everyone to hear.

Even as Calem was flattening his skirt against his thighs to keep them covered, Amadeus remained serious and composed. "So, Calem, if I may ask, what are your reasons for coming to this school?" he asked.

Calem tried to maintain eye contact; he was sweating from the pressure as well as the exertion of his battle. "I… came from the Kalos region, looking for a girl named Emma. Is she here?"

As Calem had uttered the girl's name, Amadeus's eyes immediately narrowed, and he began to scowl coldly upon the Kalos boy.

"You are not to speak of that name again. Is that understood?!" declared Amadeus.

"But-"

Amadeus stomped his foot on the ground, causing a reverberating tremor that made Calem lose balance and fall on his backside.

"No. Further. Discussion." The student president's words were stern and punctuated clearly. Amadeus then turned to the remaining students, who simply watched the confrontation in awe. "Now, students, please allow the Vice Presidents to show you to your dorm rooms!"

As the students and vice presidents all headed towards the school tower, Barry picked up Calem off of the ground, dragging him by his arm.

"Dude, c'mon! We need to get the best rooms!"

Calem's gaze was still fixed on Amadeus, who appeared to be talking to Professor Rowan. "It sounded like he knew who Emma was…"

"Who's Emma?" Barry asked, still dragging Calem along, into the tower.

As it turned out, the dorm rooms were situated one floor below the tower's lobby, built within an underground space in Jubilife City. Nonetheless, the hall and rooms appeared no different, looking just as they would above-ground.

"You and I, we're gonna be room-mates! Isn't that awesome?" Barry chimed as he continued to drag Calem towards their dorm room.

The brown-haired boy sighed. "Do I have to?"

To that exasperated question, Barry chuckled. "Hey, don't worry about it. You said you're from the Something-or-other region, so you need someone to show you the ropes! And me, I know Sinnoh like the back of my neck!"

Calem couldn't argue with that. "Well, I guess-"

"Great!" Barry kicked the door open, revealing a small, modest room, bunk bed and basic necessities included. "I call top bunk!"

Calem didn't mind however; he was more focused on finding a change of clothes from within his suitcase… but as he kept digging through, he saw that there was no extra clothing to be found at all, and the suitcase held nothing but Poké Balls and food rations.

"Where did all my-" The Kalos boy suddenly remembered what happened to his suitcase before he had come to the Sinnoh region. "Damn it, Shauna… I'm gonna be stuck wearing this thing forever."

"Say, where'd you get that uniform anyway?" Barry asked after hearing Calem's small rant. "I asked Crasher Wake for a spare and he said there weren't any."

"Came out of the closet," Calem replied, to which Barry rolled his eyes.

"Well, looks like we're gonna be staying here for the whole semester. I better call my folks and tell 'em about it. Seeya round!"

As Barry left in search of a phone, Calem too was reminded to keep in contact; he took out his Holo Caster and attempted to message the Looker Bureau to inform them of his status, but for some reason he found that he was unable to reach them, or any of his Kalos friends for that matter.

"Ze Holo Caster, I am afraid it does not verk at all outside of ze Kalos region," the disembodied voice suddenly spoke up again.

Calem almost jumped in surprise. "Are you spying on me?" he blurted out.

"_Ja, ja_… If you vant to find Emma, ve must verk together, and you must let me monitor everything vith ze suit's camera und mic!"

"Fine," Calem answered, "but do I have to keep wearing this girl uniform? Can't you morph it into something else?"

"_Es tut mir leid_, but as you said, you are stuck vith zis uniform!"

Calem pouted. In the back of his mind, he had bore some misgivings towards seeing Emma's very own Expansion Suit (sans helmet) inside that closet, back when his original uniform was on fire, but those suspicions were all but confirmed when he heard the voice of Xerosic, the inventor of the Expansion Suit – hadn't he been arrested some time ago, Calem thought? – who had been alerted to the fact that someone other than Emma was wearing the suit that he built.

Thankfully Xerosic had allowed Calem a chance to explain the situation in depth, and, even considering the bad history between the boy and the Team Flare scientist, decided to co-operate with Calem in order to find out what happened to Emma; after all, the portly scientist had grown fond of the girl, and was quite distraught to learn that she may have been in danger.

However, as wearing just the Expansion Suit in its ordinary appearance would seem suspicious to the school's patrons, Xerosic had no choice but to activate the suit's camouflage function, changing the suit's appearance to resemble the school's uniform, which Calem would have found acceptable if it were not for the fact that it was unable to transform into a boy's uniform – Xerosic had not intended for the suit to have been worn by a boy.

Aside from that though, the Expansion Suit's function of increasing Calem's physical abilities was a perfect match with the Trainer Uniform's capacity to do the same, but unlike the uniforms, the Expansion Suit was not bound to a fixed level… but just how strong was it, then?

Just as Calem was about to consider asking Xerosic, Barry suddenly burst into the room again, his arms carrying a surplus of frosted donuts that were almost spilling from his hold.

"Yo, Cal, they're giving out free donuts for the new students! Help me grab as many as we can, will ya?"

In spite of everything, Calem went along with it. If nothing else, a few sweet snacks would help prepare him for the hectic adventure that lay ahead of him.


	4. Calem Fights a Losing Battle

**Whew, here's chapter 4.**

**If you're wondering if any of the Sinnoh characters look any different in this story, I don't imagine them to look different to their most recent appearances - minus the fact that they wear Trainer Uniforms.**

* * *

Situated at the highest floor of Jubilife School's tower was the Student Council Room, where Amadeus and his Vice Presidents were sitting at their round table, discussing matters pertaining to the new arrivals of the semester.

"These new students all seem like very promising candidates," said Roark, the helmet-wearing man scrutinizing the data printed on various papers. "I daresay these might be the best entrance exam results we've ever had."

"What about that one boy?" asked Candice.

"Which boy?" Roark closely squinted into one page. "I don't suppose you mean… the boy from Kalos with the Greninja? What about him?"

The girl made a few lazy swings in her swiveling chair as she continued. "Candice thinks that boy is too problematic, too much of a free thinker. That's not a good sign."

Volkner snorted quietly. "He's strong though, I'll give him that."

"Stronger **and** faster than a Hariyama and Ninjask combined," Candice suggested facetiously.

"Ninjariyama?" exclaimed Crasher Wake. "I love that guy!"

The Vice Presidents continued to indulge in their banter until it came to their attention that Amadeus had been silent ever since he had entered the room.

"Aww, what's wrong, President?" asked Candice, rolling her chair closer towards the silver-haired boy. "Did we upset you by talking about that boy?"

"…" Amadeus said nothing.

"Noooo!" Candice wailed. "Please forgive us, President! We will atone for our mistakes right away!" The girl then pulled a long cardboard tube out of nowhere (or so it appeared) and started whacking Roark upon the head with it, and shouting, "This is all your fault, Roark! You were the one who gave that boy his uniform!"  
Given the presence of the hard hat that the man always kept on his head, Candice's assault was rendered a futile effort.

"Not so. The uniform I gave to that boy was Lv. 1, in accordance with his placing in the entrance exam. If you had properly observed, you would have noticed I also gave him a boy's uniform." Roark was calm and astonishingly precise in his refutal.

Volkner had ended up slouching lazily on his chair by the time they were done talking. "So you're saying that the kid found a new uniform somewhere?"

"Precisely," Roark nodded.

Crasher Wake slammed his fist upon the table, the force of which made the surface buckle and crack. "How dare he?! I told them, no spares!" The masked man pointed his finger towards Roark, only a scant distance from his nose. "You didn't slip him a spare, did you? There weren't enough uniforms for spares, and thanks to you, we're gonna have a naked student running around campus!"

"I gave him **one **uniform," Roark retorted. "And if you were observant enough, you would have noticed he was wearing a boy's uniform before he battled that Lv. 20 trainer."

"Well, I sure noticed when he started wearing that skirt," interjected Volkner.

Crasher Wake gave the blond man a scowl of disapproval. "Don't stare at the junior students! Are you trying to set a bad example?"

"That skirt…"

The four of them immediately stopped what they were doing to pay heed to Amadeus, who began to speak once again.

"Where did that uniform come from?" asked the student president. "What level is it?"

"Uhhh…"

The response was unanimous, which did not please Amadeus in the slightest.

"I see. I highly suggest that you look into that, then." Without another word, the silver-haired boy made an abrupt departure from the room.

"President, wait!" Candice cried out. "I'm sorry I can't make the others work harder! I'm only one girl!"

Roark scratched at his chin. "Just how are we going to get a better look at that uniform?"

"What if we politely asked him?" suggested Crasher Wake, a wide smile of inspiration on his masked face.

"Maybe…" the man in the helmet responded, weighing out his options. "But I think this calls for something more dramatic. Something that makes a bold statement."

"Ha ha, I know!" said Crasher Wake. "We'll ask him politely and say 'pretty please with sprinkles and whipped cream on top'! He'll have no choice but to agree!"

Volkner shook his head. "Sure, but here's my idea…"

%%%

"Hey, time to wake up! Stop sleeping, we don't have time for that!"

The next morning, Calem was disturbed from his slumber by Barry bouncing on his mattress – given that the Kalos boy had taken bottom bunk, Barry was left essentially flopping about like a Magikarp on dry land as he encouraged the other boy into waking.

"**Goooood morning, sunshine!"** As soon as Calem opened his weary eyes, his field of vision was mugged by a cheery, orange-eyed face.

Calem yawned. "What's so good about it?" he drawled in a semi-stupor of drowsiness.

"Everything!" replied the blond boy as he grabbed the corners of Calem's blanket, tugging it off of him in one fell swoop.

"**Eek!" **

Calem reflexively curled up his body, after being divested of his sheets left him feeling somewhat exposed.

Barry giggled. "Heh heh, I didn't know you slept with your uniform on! You must really like wearing it."

Calem wanted to provide a smart-mouthed response, but he simply lacked the energy to do much beyond rolling out of bed and onto the carpeted floor of their room.

"Ugh…" he groaned weakly. "What's for breakfast?" He received a prompt answer in the form of a few donuts thrown towards his face.

Before Calem could sink his teeth into the first donut, Barry had already changed from his pajamas to his Trainer Uniform (which, incidentally, was still at Lv. 2.) "Better hurry, dude. If we're late for class, we're gonna hear it from the president!" The blond boy snapped his fingers in a moment of inspiration. "I know, let's have a race to our first class! Last one there gets a million-dollar fine!"

And without further ado, Barry burst through the door of their room, barreling quickly down the corridor with great strides.

"Oh mein gosh, he's full of beans!" Xerosic's voice suddenly piped out from Calem's uniform.

"Wah!" Calem yelped when he heard the scientist's thick accent; he had almost forgotten about Xerosic. "…Don't do that."

"Vhat's ze matter vith you? I am only calling zem like I see zem," retorted the voice.

Using his sleeve to wipe the last crumbs of breakfast from his face, Calem sat up. "You gotta warn me next time you say something."

"And how do you expect me to do zat? _Dummkopf!_" Xerosic chided.

"Hey, you're the smart one," said Calem. "Or did I just imagine that?"

Xerosic's tone of voice was becoming noticably heated as they argued. "I vill not be spoken to like I am some… some _schlammsauger_! I demand respect, I am-"

"Whoops, almost forgot my scarf!" Barry burst through the door; he could not have barged in on Calem and Xerosic at a more inopportune moment. "Hey, were you talking to someone?" the blond boy asked as he located the long green garment, tying it around his neck.

"Uh… uh, n-no, I was just, um… sing… singing to myself, yeah!" Calem hastened to reply, hoping that Xerosic would refrain from suddenly shouting out or giving himself away out of spite. Thanks to his ability to observe the scene from… wherever he currently was, and without giving away his presence as he did so, Xerosic was almost like an invisible ghost Pokémon, identifiable only as a voice.

A lingering moment of silence ensued before Barry shrugged and headed for the door again. "We really gotta get to class, you know." He turned to meet Calem eye to eye as he pulled on the doorknob. "You're not embarrassed about being seen in that uniform, are you?"

"_After the whole school saw me with my pants on fire? No way!" _Had Calem been in a more sarcastic mood, he would have said that, but he could manage only a silent nod.

Suddenly, the Kalos boy felt a soft thump on his back as Barry gave him a reassuring pat. "Hey, don't worry 'bout those guys, at least you got me on your side! Y'know, I didn't have many friends back at home, but…" His sentence seemed to taper off quietly. "Ah, well, never mind! You'll be fine!"

And once again, Barry was out of the room, creating a second bout of noise as he raced down the hall. Standing to his feet, Calem followed.

"Hey," Calem said to himself – or so it appeared, he was really trying to talk to Xerosic, "Sorry for getting mad there… I'm just a bit on edge really. I'm worried about Emma."

Xerosic didn't reply… Maybe, Calem suspected, it was due to the other classmates nearby? Those people seemed somewhat engrossed in their own business, but Calem didn't want to risk making a scene.

%%%

"Welcome to Battle Basics class. For our first lesson of the semester, we will review Pokémon types and their matchups. Let us begin with the Normal type…"

Compared to the thrilling and action-packed events of orientation day, the classes proper of Jubilife School were not the least bit exciting, as Calem found out, seated at his desk as he and the students of the class were made to listen to the dull monotone of the tweed-wearing, bespectacled teacher.

What was worse was that the teacher was discussing topics that the Kalos boy had mastered throughout his previous adventures in his home region. It was almost insulting to his intelligence that this teacher was presenting the Normal type's resistance to Ghost-type moves as a little-known fact.

Calem seemed almost alone in his indifference towards the lecture though; his classmates were all following the teacher's words intently, writing down on their notebooks every sound that issued from his mouth. The only other exception was Barry, who had started to snooze. The blond boy's snoring proved quite cacophonous and distracting, but it did manage to keep Calem from falling asleep himself.

Almost an hour had passed and the teacher had somehow not run out of conversational material about the Normal type, listing several moves that used the type and their recommended uses.

"While Hyper Beam is a highly destructive move, it will leave its user open to attack once-"

_Ding-ding-ding!_

With the tone of the school's bell, everything seemed to shift. The teacher had immediately stopped talking, and the students all stood up to file out of the classroom, including a now-awakened Barry.

"Thank you, class. Tomorrow, we will continue our discussion on Normal type, and move on to Grass, if time allows." said the teacher as Calem finally left with his classmates.

%%%

"Man, that was a nice nap." Barry yawned deeply as he walked with Calem outside. "But, uh, what do you wanna do until afternoon class?" he asked the other boy.

Calem tried to think; there was at least two hours in between classes, allowing students a free period to wander about campus as they pleased, whether studying for upcoming exams or fighting to gain experience for their Trainer Uniform.

Maybe there would be enough time to go sleuthing for more clues to Emma's absence.

Calem cleared his throat. "Well, I wanted to go and check something out."

Before Barry could ask, he was quickly bombarded by a series of yellow objects that flew towards him. A heavy fluttering of insect wings was heard as the mystery projectiles clung to the blond boy, revealing them to be a Combee swarm. Each of the three-headed Bug-type Pokémon began to leave globs of a sticky golden substance on Barry, flying all around him until he was coated head to toe in a thick layer of the viscous fluid.

"…" The blond boy couldn't move as the sticky stuff quickly hardened. The Combee swarm began to encroach towards Calem next, intent on entrapping him in the same way.

Luckily, Calem had kept his Poké Ball with him at all times, after the previous incident of dropping his suitcase.

"Go, Greninja!" Calem called out, throwing out the round capsule, which burst open to summon the blue amphibious Pokémon. "Use Water Shuriken!"

"Gerah gerah!"

Greninja was prompt in creating its opening attack, firing an entire cluster of small throwing stars of water that spread out and hit each Combee, making them all fall down. With their light, weak wings soaked, the Pokémon could not fly away, leaving them helpless on the ground.

"Whew…" Calem sighed with relief now that the minor threat was taken care of. However, there was still the predicament of Barry being imprisoned; the brown-haired boy was at a loss on how to free him without the risk of harming him in the process.

"Ohohoho, so you managed to fight off all of my Combee?"

Calem turned around, and saw a girl in the school uniform approaching, her long pale-yellow hair styled into decadent curls. As she sauntered towards the boy, she gave a slow, mocking applause.

"I'm Beatrice," the girl introduced herself. "Word on the campus is that you got yourself a powerful uniform. So if I beat you, my uniform just might level up enough to stand a chance against the Vice Presidents… or maybe even President Amadeus himself!"

"And what if I don't want to fight?" Calem asked.

Beatrice giggled haughtily. "I'm afraid you don't have a choice in the matter. Unless, of course, you want your friend there to be trapped in honey forever."

Calem exchanged a knowing glance with Greninja, and the two of them stood in their battle-ready stance. "Okay, then let's go!"

Narrowing her long-lashed eyes, Beatrice said, "You know what really irritates me? Someone who can wear a skirt better than me!" In spite of herself, he began to smile. "But I'm sure you'll find that my Lv. 25 uniform will outshine yours completely!"

With that, she threw her Poké Ball open, and released another Bug-type Pokémon; unlike Combee, this one was taller and featured a honeycomb-like group of cells around its abdomen, arranged to look like an elegant dress.

"Vespiquen," Beatrice commanded. "Rush the enemy!"

Beatrice's Pokémon began to hover forward, and before Calem could react, it swooped towards the fallen swarm of Combee, and took each one into its arms, before storing them inside of its honeycomb cells.

While occupying itself with that task, Calem took the opportunity to attack in tandem with Greninja; both of them dashed forward to tackle Vespiquen.

Before they could land their blows however, Vespiquen raised its abdomen, and the Combees within its cells briefly popped out, rejuvenated from their previous defeat. The small Pokémon all bunched together to form a wall between Vespiquen and its opponents, completely deflecting their attacks and pushing them back.

"What?!" Calem was dumbfounded to see his surprise attack fail.

Again, Beatrice gave a condescending laugh, placing her hand by her mouth for enhanced effect. "Vespiquen's Defend Order… as if you would know. Servants are expected to protect their queen, after all."

Without much time before their opponent's attack, Calem tried to think. There had to be some way to attack Vespiquen without having a living shield of Combee to worry about.

"Grrrah!" The boy's Greninja suddenly emitted a croak of surprise; Calem saw that Beatrice had produced a bug-catching net – or in this case, a frog-catching net to incapacitate his Pokémon. Greninja struggled in vain to escape from the sack of webbed fabric.

"Not so strong without your Pokémon now, are you?" The strength provided by the girl's Trainer Uniform allowed her to keep the net held over her shoulder, even with Greninja's added weight.

"Greninja!" Calem rushed towards Beatrice in an attempt to save his Pokémon, but as he approached, she suddenly swung the net towards him, smacking the boy aside with the long pole.

Unlike when Calem had battled Ross, he felt his head throbbing with soreness from where he had been hit. The pain of the attack almost distracted him from noticing Vespiquen's next attack; the large Bug-type Pokémon raised its spacious, Combee-housing abdomen, only instead of summoning them to form a wall, Vespiquen shot its underlings from its body like a cannon, one after the other. Beatrice could not contain her smile after seeing her opponent attacked by high-speed Pokémon projectiles, unable to defend himself.

Calem didn't understand what was going on. Why was his uniform, his Expansion Suit failing? Had it broken somewhere along the way? He looked for the uniform's endurance meter on his sleeve… why was the bar grayed out? Something was definitely wrong with the suit.

"…Xerosic!" Calem called out, out of desperation. "What's happening?! What's wrong with this suit?!"

No response.

"Oh, look," Beatrice commented as Vespiquen continued to attack, the girl still holding Greninja in her net. "He's in such a bad way, he's talking complete nonsense!"

Struggling to get up, Calem was just about ready to surrender.

"…_Vunderbar_! At last, I am back!" There was no mistaking that accent; Xerosic had returned. "And not a moment too soon, it seems."

"Xerosic…" Calem could barely speak. "Where…?"

"Vell," replied the voice, "somehow, mein connection vith ze suit got disrupted. Wizout ze connection, ze suit's enhancement goes offline… but I have taken care of zat now! You should be, as zey say, 'good to go' in a moment!"

And true to Xerosic's words, Calem saw that his uniform's endurance meter had refilled completely, and his strength returned to match.

"What?" Beatrice gasped. "Why are you still standing?! Vespiquen, crush the fool!"

Once more, Vespiquen fired another round of Combee projectiles, but they bounced harmlessly off of the boy as he headed for Beatrice yet again; just as before, the girl swung her net to club the incoming target.

She did not at all expect Calem to catch the net as it came towards him, and took it from her grasp, allowing him to free Greninja from its confines.

"Give that back!" Beatrice demanded, stamping her high heel-clad feet in rage. "How dare you sully my priceless hand-crafted net with your grubby fingers!"

"You want it?" Calem taunted. "Then here!" Just as she had done to his Pokémon, Calem trapped Beatrice in her own net.

Calem could not help but laugh a little as he put that girl in her place; Greninja silently snickered as well, and Xerosic too laughed in a jolly way.

"Oh ho ho! She vas no match at all!" he chortled.

Calem kept his grip steady as Beatrice fought within the net. "Hey, you're not still mad at me, are you?" he asked Xerosic.

"Och, let us not vorry about zat," replied Xerosic's voice. "Sure, ve may have had our troubles, but you care about Emma, as do I, so ve must put aside our differences until ve find her!"

"Sounds good," Calem replied.

What Calem had forgotten to realize was that their troubles were not quite over; Vespiquen was still in fighting condition, and coming their way.

"Vespiquen!" Beatrice shouted, her voice muffled from inside of the net. "Use Toxic, and finish them!"

Without delay, her Pokémon fired off a spray of foul-smelling liquid that bore the same texture and consistency as nectar, but was colored a murky dark violet. Not moving away in time, Calem was splashed with the ooze, which began to cling to him in thick lumps.

"Ugh…" Calem groaned, his eyes and nose suffering most from the vile substance. "What is this stuff?"

Xerosic was quick to provide the facts. "It's toxic sludge. It vill be very troublesome if you let it linger for too long. Hurry, defeat zem!"

As Calem dove in to tackle Vespiquen again, the Bug-type defended itself as expected, but as the Combee were weakened from repeated use as defense and offense, breaking through the wall they formed proved a simple task, allowing the boy and the Greninja to unleash their attacks with full force, eventually making Beatrice's Pokémon faint.

But something was wrong.

The prolonged exposure to Vespiquen's Toxic was having its effect on Calem; his head began to feel oddly light, like its contents had found an opening and were now floating around all over the place. His eyes were heavy with tears as he tottered aimlessly, in search of possible aid – though he had no idea where to find it.

"You must remain calm!" Xerosic urged. "Surely zere must be some antidote nearby?"

"But…" Calem tried to answer, before he stumbled and fell to the ground.

%%%

"Calem… Calem…"

A familiar voice called out to the Kalos boy. It seemed to be a voice he hadn't heard in a while… but why was it so familiar?

"_Qu'est-ce que c'est?_ Is he waking up?"

Professor Sycamore… of course! What was he doing in Sinnoh though, Calem wondered? Unless… maybe that whole ordeal was just a dream, and he was back in Kalos, sleeping in the professor's laboratory. Surely that had to be it…

Calem woke up. He looked around, observing what looked like the typical equipment for a Pokémon Center room, and for some reason he was in bed, swaddled in a downy blanket. He was not alone in the room; keeping an eye on him were Barry, and a dark-haired man that looked vaguely like Professor Sycamore… but this man was wearing a purple mask and scarf, there was no way that could be Sycamore.

The blond boy's very appearance all but confirmed that Calem was stuck in Sinnoh, however.

"Ahh, _tres bien!_ He has awakened!" said the masked man.

"Wooo! You made it, buddy!" Barry congratulated.

"Who… who are you?" asked Calem, scratching his head.

"Me?" asked the man. "I am merely a friend of Professor Rowan. When he found out what had happened to you, he wanted me to come over to let him know when – or if – you pulled through!"

"What happened?" asked the boy. His memory was somewhat hazy. He remembered the girl with the Vespiquen… but that was about it.

Barry stepped forward to answer that. "You got poisoned, remember? You were out for two whole weeks… that reminds me! Here's all the homework you missed out on!" He handed Calem a stack of papers. "But uh, we haven't learned about which moves are good against Steel, so don't bother with that one!"

"Ohh…" Something suddenly occurred to Calem. "Wait, you were trapped in honey! How did you get out?!"

Barry scoffed at the question. "Uh, duh? It's honey!" He licked his lips to elaborate his answer further.

"Well," said the masked man, "you survived, so let us leave you to catch up on your homework!" Both he and Barry then left the room.

"Ugh, can you believe this?" Calem said to Xerosic as he looked over the papers… but Xerosic didn't respond. That seemed rather odd until the boy looked down.

Instead of his Trainer Uniform, he was wearing only a simple, white hospital gown.


	5. Calem Receives Subpar First Aid

**Here's chapter 5. Quite a few new characters are introduced here, and most of them are actual characters from the games now!**

**I did decide to give Xerosic a Germanic accent when he became an important character - I liked the idea and it makes his lines easier to identify as his own.**

* * *

Sitting in the Student Council Room, Amadeus heard a knocking at the closed door; a slow, rhythmic tapping on the surface. When he opened the door, he saw the indignant face of Beatrice, the girl who had battled Calem and, as a result of her Vespiquen's Toxic attack, sent him to the Pokémon Center in the nearby Sandgem Town.

The bug net-wielding girl bore a most indignant pout on her clear-skinned face, which the student president met with an expression most stoic.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"President!" declared Beatrice. "Was a reward not promised for the successful defeat of the boy student in the skirt? I have inquired Vice President Volkner about this matter twice already, and he still has yet to respond! How dare he?"

Amadeus didn't hesitate, or even blink in response. "I could hardly call that defeat successful. Unless I am mistaken, you had allowed that boy to overpower you before he fell to the effects of your attack?"

Beatrice gasped in shock. Had he been watching the battle all along? She certainly didn't remember seeing any silver-haired people around during the fight.

"Yes, but…"

"But nothing," Amadeus retorted. "Your entitlement to the promised reward has been invalidated. That will be all." With that, he closed the door on Beatrice, uncaring of the girl's continued protesting. Instead, he focused his attention to the boy seated at the round table; a rather bored-looking young man whose hair seemed to be colored both black and green. In addition to the regulation Trainer Uniform, he wore a blue necktie, and was carrying a personal device that looked like a blue, smaller version of a standard Pokédex.

Amadeus sat opposite of the boy, and began to talk. "Now, I take it you have secured the boy's uniform, Thorton?"

"Indeed." Thorton nodded.

"And I trust you will be able to thoroughly analyze the uniform to learn more about it?" asked the president, his voice remaining impersonal and precise.

"A simple task," remarked the boy. "At a glance, I could tell already that the uniform is very different to the ones I personally developed… Perhaps I can use my potential findings to develop an even more powerful build of Trainer Uniform."

The faintest of smiles made its way to Amadeus's face.

"That would be ideal."

%%%

Calem was still feeling a little sluggish, even after his mind was feeling very much awakened and alert. Having spent all of two weeks bed-ridden after being doused with poison had to have contributed to his physical detriment, he figured.

Before the Kalos boy could exercise his muscles though, the door opened, signaling the arrival of one Professor Rowan.

The old man cleared his throat. "Excellent, you have recovered, just as Professor Syc- I mean, just as my good friend had said. In good time, you may just be able to return to your classes as normal."

But classes were the least of Calem's current concerns. "Professor," he asked, "where'd my uniform go?"

"Ahh, I suppose I should have mentioned that earlier," the professor replied, scratching his head. "You see, Jubilife School holds a strict policy on restricting the use of Trainer Uniforms to within the premises, where they can keep an eye on those who wear the uniform. As you know, the uniform grants increased strength to its wearer, and such powers would be dangerous were they to fall in the wrong hands."

"Then, where is my uniform?" Calem dreaded to hear the answer, but he had to know for sure.

Professor Rowan nodded thoughtfully. "I gave it to President Amadeus for safekeeping."

"**You whaaat?!"**

Calem had responded so loudly and suddenly that even the normally-composed professor flinched back, and a blue-haired girl in a nurse's uniform barged into the room.

"**Hey, keep it down in here! Our patients are trying to get some rest!" **The girl responded to Calem's outburst with a matching volume and vehemence. "Oh… it's just you, the Jubilife School student." She began to quiet down after recognizing the boy, even as he could not recognize her back.

Professor Rowan, however, rose his eyebrows in intrigue when he saw the girl.

"Dawn?" he exclaimed. "So this is the second job you've been disappearing off to lately?"

Having focused most of her attention to Calem, Dawn suddenly turned to the professor and nodded excitedly. "Yup! I'm sorry I can't help you around the lab more… but they're paying me very well here! And I get to take care of sick Pokémon…" She shifted her gaze to Calem before continuing, "…oh, and people too!"

The Kalos boy frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well…" Dawn laughed hesitantly. "Apparently the school couldn't afford to put you in the hospital in Jubilife City, so they sent you to the Pokémon Center here, instead."

"Unbelievable…" Calem muttered to himself. Dawn didn't seem to hear – or perhaps she was only pretending.

"Aww, don't look so glum, you're in good hands here! Sure, it took two weeks to treat your poisoning, but you're all better now, more or less. We still have plenty of therapy for you… oh, that reminds me!"

Dawn reached into a nearby bag, and pulled out a liquid-filled syringe bearing a disarmingly lengthy needle. Calem's heart began to race as he eyed the small implement; he knew what was to come.

"It's time to give your immune system a quick boost, so hold out your arm, please."

Silently, Calem shook his head.

"Hey, no need to worry," enthused the girl as she approached with the needle in hand. "It's just like getting a piercing on your arm!"

It was hardly any consolation, but Calem still had no choice in the matter.

"**Uaaaaahh!"**

"**I said keep it down!"**

%%%

Once afternoon classes had finished for Barry, the blond boy headed back to his dorm room, with a special surprise planned for Crasher Wake, his idol and (alleged) mentor.

Even as Barry had the entirety of room to himself in Calem's absence, he was respectful enough to leave all of the Kalos boy's possessions as they were – snacks, Poké Balls and all. One item of his in particular was the single exception: the Holo Caster Calem had left behind. Barry was ultimately unable to resist taking a look at the unfamiliar device.

With time, Barry was able to figure out how to view the archived messages that Calem had received, and though he had little idea about what at least half of the messages were about in the first place, it was the messages that Emma had sent that gave Barry at least some insight into who this girl was, and why Calem had made it a point to search for her after she had gone missing.

As much as Barry wanted to help his new friend, he didn't really know what to do. He did recall though, that President Amadeus did not take kindly to the very mention of Emma's name, and Barry reached the conclusion that if he could improve his relationship with the Student Council, he would be able to learn more about what effect Emma's presence had within the school, if any.

It was with that objective in mind that Barry went all the way to the Student Council Room, carrying a small, wrapped package that he held very carefully.

He knocked on the closed door with a frenetic rhythm, until President Amadeus opened the door ever so slightly to reveal his face; he did not appear too pleased with the blond boy's sudden appearance.

"Do you have any business here?" asked the student president.

"Sir President, sir!" Barry saluted his superior – which Amadeus found odd, to say the least – as he replied. "I have something to give to Crasher Wake, sir! Is he here?" He couldn't even wait for an answer, instead opting to look through the small space of the ajar door in an attempt to inspect the room.

"The Vice Presidents and I are currently engaged in a very important discussion," stated Amadeus. "As a student of this esteemed school, you should know better than to disturb us."

"Sorry, President!" Barry bowed in contrition, "but this is even more important than an important discussion!" He unwrapped his package to reveal a closed black box, and lifted the lid to reveal an array of delicious food inside. "I made Crasher Wake a delicious boxed lunch!" explained the blond boy. "See, here's the sandwiches, and over here is-"

"Enough!" declared the silver-haired boy. "How am I to know that you are not trying to serve the Vice President poisoned food?"

"Uh…" Barry was at a loss for an answer, which only furthered Amadeus's suspicions.

"So you admit it?" he said. "Then I have no choice but to punish you. Come inside this room at once!"

Still holding the boxed lunch, Barry waited for the door to open fully, before walking inside to see Crasher Wake and the other three Vice Presidents, staring down the junior student with varied expressions; Roark appeared quite curious about Barry's presence, while Candice was more incredulous about it. Volkner's face remained neutral as usual, while – to Barry's disappointment – Crasher Wake failed to acknowledge the new guest, due to his current state of being asleep.

Roark was the first to speak, breaking the tension-inducing silence. "Hello, Barry. How's your father been?"

"Uh… he's good?" The blond boy wasn't quite sure why the helmet-wearing man had brought that up.

"No time for chatting!" Candice reached out to pinch Roark's lips shut. "Can't you see that the President is going to give us a demonstration of how to discipline an unruly student?"

Roark slapped the girl's hand away, but chose to remain silent, while Volkner took out a notepad and pencil. While they stood by in anticipation, Crasher Wake was still asleep, snoring contentedly.

Looming over Barry as he approached, Amadeus began to speak in an unrelenting, authoritative manner.

"Level 2 student! For attempting to harm a Vice President with tainted food, the consequences will be dire… The Vice Presidents and I will now deliberate on an appropriate punishment for your transgression."

Barry gulped. Was he going to be expelled? Or perhaps he was going to have his Trainer Uniform leveled down? Or worse still, what if he had to work part-time as a school janitor? He dreaded the thought of such a fate.

Pushed out of the way, he was left to stand, frozen with nervousness as the President huddled in close to discuss with his subordinates in hushed voices.

Finally, after what felt to Barry like an agonizingly long time, Amadeus, Candice, Roark, and Volkner turned from their swiveling chairs to face the younger boy.

"After careful consideration, we have decided," said Amadeus, "that you are to eat the very food that you have poisoned!"

"Wha…?"

"**At once."**

Barry's jaw hung slack when he realized his ears were not deceiving him. The boxed lunch he had painstakingly crafted to be as delicious and nutritious as humanly possible, as a gift specially for his favorite student of the school… all gone to waste.

But the student council's rule was absolute, and refusing to obey was out of the question. With much reluctance, Barry ate the entire contents of the lunch, bite by sumptuous bite; being watched did not make the task any easier, and he was almost in tears by the time he had finished.

The Vice Presidents looked on in disbelief as the blond boy suppressed a burp.

"He's not poisoned?!" Volkner wondered.

"That wasn't exciting at all!" Candice pouted.

"How unusual… only a Snorlax would be able to safely ingest that amount of poison," surmised Roark.

"Zzzzzzz…" Crasher Wake snored.

Amadeus raised a curious eyebrow, before standing from his seat to point directly at Barry.

"Explain yourself!" he shouted. "How were you able to consume the poisoned food without any effects?"

"I keep telling you, I didn't-" Barry replied, trying to wipe his eyes dry.

Suddenly, Roark came upon a startling realization.

"I think I figured it out!" he announced, adjusting his glasses and smirking. "I have observed sufficient evidence to believe the food was, in fact, not poisoned at all!"

Volkner and Candice gave the helmeted man an odd expression, like he was stating something very ridiculous, while Amadeus kept his gaze on Barry, noting his teary face,

"Those tears of rapturous bliss… obviously I have misjudged you, but I see now. If you could prepare a meal so delicious, perhaps a mere Level 2 student like you may be of service to us after all."

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Barry asked.

"I am hereby officially appointing you to the position of caterer for the student council meeting," declared the student president. "You will make lunches for the council, tailored to meet the preferences of each individual member."

Barry's eyes were almost sparkling in amazement; President Amadeus himself was actually asking a big favor of him. "How much do I get paid?" he asked, his nerves fluttering in anticipation.

"This is a privilege, not an occupation," Amadeus replied flatly.

"Right!" Barry nodded. "But how am I gonna have time to make lunches **and** study for classes… Ah, that reminds me, I still haven't started my essay about Poké Balls! Sorry, but I really gotta go!"

"Very well," Amadeus affirmed. "You are dismissed."

Before Barry could reach the door, Amadeus cleared his throat with an attention-grabbing "Ahem."

"Remember," continued the student president, "The first major exam of this semester is coming in a week, which all students must attend. Any student who fails to turn up to the first exam is not worthy of this school, and will be expelled, with no exceptions. Are we clear?"

"Clearer than clear!" And with that, Barry left the student council room.

After that, the Vice Presidents remained silent, until Crasher Wake yawned loudly, marking the end of his rest.

"What'd I miss?" he asked, his voice still a little drowsy.

"Hey, you're awake, Wake," Volkner noted, accidentally invoking an instance of wordplay that elicited a humored smile from the others.

"You didn't miss anything," Candice reassured. "That weird blond boy with the scarf just came in here, and all of a sudden the President put him in charge of making lunches for us."

"**Say what?!" **

Crasher Wake's voice boomed in surprise, startling his peers. "Why didn't you tell me there was going to be lunch? I like lunch!"

The black-haired girl ignored Wake's frustrations and turned instead to Amadeus. "President, you were giving privileges to a mere Level 2 student! This is not like you at all! Have you forgotten who you are? Please don't leave us! We need you!"

"I am aware of that." Amadeus replied. "Do you have so little faith in me to assume I am doing this for no good reason?"

"Oh… oh!" Candice hung her head in shame. "President! Please forgive me for assuming such awful things! I should have known better than to even think you were not planning something great! …But what are you planning?"

%%%

Calem had been left in bed for so long that he was even finding it hard to sleep, and the dull pain lingering in his arm from the injection did little to ease the situation. Alone and unable to do anything, he felt fit to die of boredom, had Dawn not been kind enough to wheel in a small TV on a trolley for the Kalos boy to watch. While the television shows of Sinnoh were noticeably different to those of his home region, he was in no mood to be choosy with entertainment, and continued to watch from night to morning.

All of a sudden, he was finding himself engrossed in a very dramatic soap opera; he didn't hear the knocking on his door until well after the episode had finished.

"…It's open," he called, not moving from his bed.

The doorknob turned and the door swung open; Barry came inside.  
This time, Calem realized that Barry was actually wearing his regular outfit, the same as what he wore during the entrance exam. How had he not realized when Barry came to visit before, he thought to himself?

Barry waved excitedly, and than he sat down at the foot of Calem's bed. "I'm baaaaack!" It was barely two seconds before his attention quickly shifted to the TV. "…Hey, change the channel, this show is no good."

After failing to figure out how to change the channel on the TV – as it was an old model that Barry had never seen before, and could make no sense of – he then yelled out towards the open door, "Hey, get in here, it's open!"

Suddenly, a man walked in, his hair colored fiery-red with a streak of yellow, and tied back to form a short ponytail that flared out.

"Sup, boys." He gave Barry a high-five as he came in.

Calem had no idea who this man was. "Who is this guy?" he asked.

Barry laughed. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to introduce you! Buck, this is Cal. Cal, this is Buck."

"Level 21 student at Jubilife School!" Buck appended, giving a thumbs-up. Of course, outside of the school grounds he was without his uniform, clad in a red shirt and black pants.

Calem looked to Buck and Barry; already they looked like they were getting along well. "So you replaced me?" he asked with some bitterness… why was he feeling so bitter about this, he wondered?

"What? No way!" Barry shook his head. "Buck just helps me get my homework done so I have time to make more lunch for Crasher Wake and the others… oh, yeah, I have more notes and homework to give you, but I must have left them in the room!"

Calem's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What are you talking about?"

Making a bunch of un-necessary hand gestures, Barry replied, "You know, homework! We're all done learning about the types now, but now we have to learn which moves to use against Pokémon with two types! It's all complicated and stuff!"

Calem was almost feeling a headache loom over. "No, not that… meh, never mind. What are you doing here, though?"

"Well, I had something important to tell you," Barry explained, "but I probably forgot it."  
Calem rolled his eyes.

"Major exam, bruh," Buck gave a simple reminder.

"Ohhh yeah!" Barry snapped his fingers as he remembered. "We gotta get you outta this hospital… Pokémon Center, whatever. If you don't take the major exam in a week, you're gonna get expelled, no exceptions!"

The brown-haired boy shook his head. "But I can't leave now! I'm still very sick and I have another series of injections soon, and-" Calem stopped for a moment, thinking. "Wait a minute, I'm not sick at all! Let's go!"

Throwing off the blankets, Calem jumped out of bed and proceeded to walk out of the door with Barry and Buck.

"Good morning!"

Just as he had reached the threshold, Dawn suddenly appeared to block the way, holding her bag of medical supplies.

"Dude, aren't you kind of in the way?" Buck asked.

"Sorry," Dawn apologized with a big smile. "I just needed to take our patient's temperature!" She pulled out a thermometer from her bag and thrusted it towards the boy in the hospital gown.

Calem opened his mouth, but Dawn just giggled. "Ha ha, very funny. This isn't an oral thermometer, you know."

"Actually, I think I feel a lot better now," Calem suggested. "Can I leave now?"

The blue-haired girl shook her head. "Oh, no, no, no… no. You are still very sick! One of the symptoms of a major illness like yours is denial, and you're full of it!"

Grabbing the boy by his shoulders, Dawn forcibly escorted him back to the bed. "I need to go give you another dose of pills now… don't run away while I'm getting them, okay?"

The girl in the nurse uniform then departed; Buck and Barry exchanged a glance that suggested they had just mentally collaborated on a brilliant plan.

"Okay, now's our chance!" Barry told Calem, pulling him off of the bed by his arm.

"But she said-"

But Buck just dismissed Calem's concerns, replying with, "Nah, son… nah."

Once they were all in agreement, Calem, Barry, and Buck were able to sneak Calem out of the Pokémon Center, out of Sandgem Town, and all the way back to Jubilife City.

%%%

"Okay, I couldn't find any of those red pills, so I had to use little pieces of candy instead, that should be…"

Dawn stopped talking when she realized that were was not a single Calem to be found in the patient's room.

"No, no, no!" she wailed in despair. "How am I going to get into Jubilife School now?!"


End file.
